"Pathways of Understanding", Theology Today

8

THEOLOGY TODAY

Pdthwuys of UtidsTStdfidwg

With this issue. Theology Today turns again to the
theme^of the Church and the world, not so much to point up the
antitheses and tensions implicit in that theme as “
oositive avenues of helpful interpenetration and “‘'S'"

ment. Reformed theology, of course, allows the C^urc no^

fortable retreat from its responsibility ^ ^

he neither spiritual, intellectual, or physical isolation for the keep
o th * ys of the kingdom. But there is a parallel responsibility

Jhih iZ, ,o of..n If .he child„„ of .h»

indeed wiser in their generation than the children g
thte will be times when the Church must be willing in all humili y
not only to woo and to judge the world, but also to learn from the

world.

The opening meditation is a prayer for Z

able us to employ every human gift of analysis an gu
uncovering that which is known to God (and perhaps to e
hTnot tolurselves. It is part of ‘'A Litany on Christian Vocaaon
taken by permission from The Student Prayerbook, ^ new Hadda
Hou"e publication edited and written by a --miUee under the
rhuirniamhio of Dr lohn Oliver Nelson. Professor of Christian Vo

D«, sch«,i, d.. .d.

the field of Christian vocation, coupled with his close re 'P

such experiments in the deepening of the devotional life “
CoLunity in Scotland, add breadth and insight to this 1 tany.
Saddam House is an editorial venture in the area of

ture for students which has grown up under ^Ln’s

ward H. Hazen Foundation and the Young Mens and Wome

Christian Associations.

No comment should be needed on “A Letter “ ^y^
issued by the General Council of the Presbyterian Church. U A^
In its bllanced. reasoned plea for a return to sanity and justice in
Congressional investigations, its defense of basic human rights, an
SrcMl for a positive fpproach to the problem of Communism i s
a fresh reminLr of the historic witness of the Reformed Churc

EDITORIAL

9

all of life. In America, the “Letter” has been hailed as a new Magna
Charta of liberty; abroad, it has been called “the most significant of-
ficial utterance of any Church group in our time.” Theology To-
day is proud of the part played by the Chairman of its Editorial
Council in the framing and issuing of this memorable document.
Dr. Mackay is serving this year as Moderator of the Presbyterian
Church, U. S. A.

Central to the theme of this issue is Professor Robert T. Handy’s
article, “The Newest Form of Infidelity,” with its warning against
abdication of responsibility in the area of the secular on the part of
the Christian Church. Current crusades against the encroachments
of secularism, he contends, have become so generalized that often
they fail to distinguish between secularism as a faith and the secular
as a realm of life and a part of God’s creation. Christians who are
so stirred up about secularism as the newest form of infidelity that
“they fail to claim the secular as their own, but yield it up by de-
fault,” are all the more culpable in that they are precisely the ones
who should be most concerned about the world, for in their knowl-
edge of God they possess the only key to its full understanding and
reclamation.

Robert Theodore Handy is Assistant Professor of Church History
at Union Theological Seminary, New York. This article was pre-
sented and discussed at a meeting of the Theological Discussion
Group, a society of younger theologians sponsored by the Hazen
Foundation.

Sometimes it is the secular which illumines and clarifies the sacred.
In a brilliant, fresh approach to an emerging problem of the ecu-
menical movement, the tension between freedom and community,
between group cohesion and self-determination. Professor Karl W.
Deutsch’s article, “Communication and Responsibility,” stimulates
the imagination with analogies drawn from the fields of social sci-
ence, psychology, and the new science of cybernetics, which is better
known to most people for its development of the electronic calcu-
lators popularized as “thinking machines.”

Born in Czechoslovakia and educated in Europe and America,
Professor Deutsch has been Associate Professor of History at the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology since 1942. He has worked with

10

THEOLOGY TODAY

and was connected with the
the United States Departmen Tr^ncisco in 1945. This year

United Nations Conference in Sa Princeton Uni-

Professor Deutsch has served as v on World Political

versity, working with the en er ^ ^ Wilson School of

Institutions which is a division of the Woooro

Public and International Affairs.

that today's secularized Christian
If it be true, as is sometimes sa , ^ J Professor Kuist

has forgotten how to pray, the Christian^ treatment of the rela-
adds a necessary ingredient ° ^ ^nrld It is no empty exhorta-

tionship between the Churchman ^t^e ^

tion to more prayer, but Thankseivinc it is pointed out, is

indi.pe...ble ch„.«eri»c of .h= .pH. .b.. g,.«
HowLdVillman Kuist is Charley J,,” ^t^r^lToTTheLgical

Theology for the teaching of Eng

Seminary^ and These Words upon Thy Heart

How to Enjoy the Bible (19d9). ^^sence from

ELn^ se-ic^^^^^^^^^^^ .He training of village pastors.

Ukimately, X^MryTept” This is

“ol thTanicle by Professor Cabaniss in wlu^ “Xtln of

j j Thp selection is almost esotencally diverse,

EDITORIAL

11

ing in the field of mediaeval manuscripts. This, perhaps, explains
the refreshing variety of his source materials in the field of Christian
expansion, which range from Ermold le Noir’s Poeme sur Louis le
Pieux to the True Relation of the anonymous Portuguese Knight of
Elvas.

In a day when the world mission of the Church can no longer be
bounded geographically, the American college campus is often called
one of the most strategic mission fields on earth. Recent develop-
ments, as at Harvard under President Pusey, lead some to believe
that the campus is no longer the impermeable frontier which once
it was, but Professor Noble in an article on “Evangelism on the Col-
lege Campus” warns that “while higher education has a new interest
in religion, it is not now ready to accept a type of presentation of the
Gospel that it previously rejected.” To the students, such evan-
gelism is still irrelevant. “To us it may be the most profound answer
to the deepest questions; to them it is either an answer they cannot
believe, or an answer to questions they are not asking." What then
will be proper and effective evangelism on the campus? The key,
Professor Noble believes, is the formation of a vital Christian com-
munity as a living group-witness within or adjacent to the academic
community.

Hubert C. Noble, a graduate of Occidental College and Union
Theological Seminary, New York, holds an M.A. from Columbia
University and a D.D. from the University of Dubuque. He is Chap-
lain and Associate Professor of Religion at Occidental College, in
Los Angeles. His article is the substance of an address given at a
conference of chaplains and university religious workers on the West
Coast.

Something of the two-way nature of the inter-relationship of
Church and world is suggested by Professor DunkePs article on the
Broadway stage. On the one hand, the stage is a mirror of the tem-
per of our times, and therefore a valuable medium for communicating
to religious thinkers the mood of the world about them in which they
live and work. On the other hand, Professor Dunkel's evaluation of
several current Broadway hits leads him to the conclusion that the
trouble confronting present-day playwrights is the lack of an ethical
code." How can there be credible dramatic conflict without real

^2 THEOLOGY TODAY

beliefs for which people will fight? "And how shall they believe in
h£ of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear wtthout

^ ^WUht^Dwight Dunkel is Professor of English Literature at the
uXersity of Rochester, and a notable Christian layman active in
making tL treasures of literature appreciated by a wide r^ge o
people through publications both technical and popular. He is a
frequent contributor to Theology Today and serves on its Editorial

Council.

We welcome to the Editorial Committee of Theology Today Sam-
uel Hugh Moffett who has prepared the second Editorial or this issue
and is taking much of the responsibility for readmg proof. Dr. Mof-
fett received his Ph.D. degree at Yale University, and, after study
ing Chinese at the College of Chinese Studies, Peking,

Professor of the History of Theology at the Nanking Theologica
Seminary in China. He is now Visiting Lecturer -
Princeton Theological Seminary. He has recently published a book,
,h, mk of ,h. Church. Chlcd,

the Sun (1953).— -Ed.

A LITANY ON CHRISTIAN VOCATION*

By John Oliver Nelson

OLORD of glory, who earnest the stars in their timeless orbits,
and sustainest all matter and mind in their appointed work-
ing, we give thee thanks and praise, that thou dost yet also
claim each of us for thyself in an eternal purpose.

For the mystery of creation, wherein thou didst make man for
fellowship with thyself,

We thank thee with a whole heart, O God.

For the variety of man's gifts and enthusiasms, each of us differing
uniquely, formed with a special intention to fulfill in thee,

We thank thee with a whole heart, O God.

For the ways by which thou dost reveal thy will to our minds,
pointing us forward by tokens of our physical endowments, our
family, our opportunities and education and experience.

We thank thee with a whole heart, O God.

For the plentiful reward given to live our lives unto thee, in
satisfactions, friendships, and the exaltation of co-operating with thee
in thy holy purpose.

We thank thee with a whole heart, 0 God.

For the fellowship of thy Church, the Body of Christ thy Son,
within whose far-flung membership are men and women serving thee
in every worthy task, making these their ministries of thy blessed
kingdom.

We thank thee with a whole heart, O God.

Aware of the want and wistfulness all about us, of the poverty of
soul in millions who lack any vision of thy glory, any true perspec-
tive of their work,

We seek our work and witness in thee. Lord.

Aware that all who seek to follow thy way among the ways of men
must expect misunderstanding and scorn, temptations to hypocrisy,
perplexities, and hard decisions,

• From The Student Prayerbook, edited and written by a Haddam House Committee under
the chairmanship of John Oliver Nelson. The Litany, which is selection No. 100, pp. 97-99,
is used here with the permission of the publishers. Association Press, New York.

XJiE.

THE LIFE OF mnn m THE LIGHT OF GOD